The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has noted that in addition to legally requiring all four of Australia’s major banks to share product reference data with accredited data recipients, the new rules also give legislative force to consumer data sharing obligations in banking that will become mandatory from 1 July 2020.

Interest rates, fees and charges and eligibility criteria for banking products that include credit cards and mortgages all fall into the category of “product reference data”.

She explained how “having the consumer data right rules in place means that from July this year, when consumers choose to direct their bank to share their data with another accredited data recipient, the banks must do so”.

The making of the rules marks “a major milestone in delivering the consumer data right in banking”, Ms Court concluded.